Highlights Guide

This document contains details of how to navigate through the newly released files. We
have included bookmarks in each of the PDF files of key stories and reports highlighted
by Dr David Clarke. This will make it easier to navigate through the files.

For information on the history of government UFO investigations and where these files
fit in please read Dr David Clarke’s background guide to the files.

Navigating the files using the bookmarks

To view the bookmarks, click on the ‘Bookmarks’ tab on the upper left hand side of the
PDF window, the bookmarks tab will expand – as shown below.

1. Click on ‘Bookmarks’ tab

The ‘Bookmarks’ tab will then expand and a list of relevant bookmarks will be displayed
– as shown below.
 2. Bookmark tab will expand.

Clicking on a bookmark will take you to the pages of the file related to that particular
story. To see the details of each bookmark – hover over the icon that appears on the
top left hand corner of the relevant page of the PDF document – as shown below.

3. Hover or click on bookmark icons to see detail

Below is information on the key stories and reports of UFO activity contained in these
files. It includes a list of the bookmarks contained in each file, with a short summary of
each bookmark. Please note that not all files contain bookmarks.

Key stories and events featured in the files:

Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) papers on UFOs

A JIC meeting in April 1957 was addressed by the Air Ministry's head of air intelligence -
Air Vice Marshal Bill McDonald - on unexplained aerial phenomena. He said four
incidents involving radar tracking of UFOs remained unexplained. Papers were released
to a member of the public in 1999: DEFE 24/2013 (p257-60).

Ladbrokes bet on “alien life”

A punter who made a 100-1 bet with bookmakers Ladbrokes that “aliens would be found
on earth dead or alive before the end of the century” approached the government for
evidence to support his claim after Ladbrokes refused to payout. The MoD said they
were open-minded about extraterrestrial life but had no evidence of its existence: DEFE
24/2012 (p72-77)

RAF Stanmore "psychic forewarning of bomb attack"

A man was questioned by RAF police after he turned up at RAF Stanmore, Middlesex,
in May 1990 to report a strange dream that involved a bomb explosion at a military
installation in London. RAF police confirmed that a few weeks later a terrorist bomb
attack occurred at Stanmore. Inquiries were made about this incident in 1995-96 by the
UFO desk officer at MoD following an inquiry from a journalist who was writing an article
for the magazine Fortean Times: DEFE 24/1973 (p13-14, p15, p18, p60-61) and DEFE
24/1978 (p216, p220).
RAF aircraft scrambled to investigate unidentified radar targets.
A Parliamentary Question was tabled by Martin Redmond MP in 1996. An RAF briefing
reveals there were an average of 200 scrambles every year to intercept Soviet aircraft
during the Cold War. But from 1991-95 there were no scrambles to investigate
unidentified targets on radar. However aircraft were scrambled to shadow "hijacked
aircraft" and to participate in covert exercises against drug-running alongside HM
Customs and Excise. Papers can be found at DEFE 24/1983 (p40-48, p53).

Berwyn Mountain (Wales) UFO

Late on the evening of 23 January 1974 villagers in the Llandrillo area of North Wales
heard a loud explosion and saw mysterious lights in the sky. They feared an aircraft
had crashed in the Berwyn Mountains and called the emergency services. Police and
mountain rescue teams searched the hills but found no trace of an air crash. The
explosion was later traced to an earth tremor detected by seismologists and some of the
lights in the sky were thought to be meteorites. The Welsh case re-surfaced in the press
in 1996-97 on the 50th anniversary of the Roswell incident. DEFE 24/2045 (p17-20,
p57-78) contains MoD papers from 1974 that discuss the original incident, released
following a request from a UFOlogist in 2003.

Blue Streak rocket launch allegedly showing UFO or "spaceman" (1964)

Claims made in a BBC 2 documentary on UFOs shown in 1996 are discussed in DEFE
24/1983 (p145-73). The film, held by the Imperial War Museum, shows an object that
was identified as "an internal camera reflection."

Parliamentary Ombudsman
The Parliamentary Ombudsman overturned a decision by the MoD not to release UFO
papers requested by a Welsh UFOlogist in 2000: DEFE 24/2014 (p28-46) and DEFE
24/2015 (p77-83). The Ombudsman also overturned a decision by MoD to with-hold
papers on the Rendlesham Forest incident: DEFE 24/2042 (p19-56).

Rendlesham Forest Incident (RAF Woodbridge, Suffolk, December 1980)

Often described as "Britain's Roswell”, the incident began with a sighting by US Air
Force (USAF) security police of bright lights descending in Rendlesham Forest, outside
the perimeter fence of RAF Woodbridge. Three patrolmen claimed they saw a UFO in
the forest and investigations found marks on the ground and on trees and allegedly
higher than expected levels of radiation. Two nights later Lt Col Charles Halt, the deputy
base commander, and other USAF personnel reported seeing more unexplained lights
over the forest. The MoD file on the incident was first released in 2001 but some papers
were with-held. DEFE 24/2042 (p19-56) contains details of a 2002 judgement by the
Parliamentary Ombudsman which led to their release. DEFE 24/1995 (p71-86) contains
transcripts of interviews with two of the key USAF witnesses, T/Sgt Jim Penniston and
Lt Col Charles Halt; DEFE 24/1983 (p178-79) contains the MoD position statement on
the incident.

Manchester airport UFO

DEFE 24/2042 (p 182-83) contains a copy of the Civil Aviation Authority's Airmiss
Working Party report on a near-miss with an "unidentified object" reported by the
captain and first officer of a 737 approaching Manchester airport on 6 January 1995.
The investigation failed to identify the object. DEFE 24/1991 (p264) contains a sketch
by a member of the public showing a UFO "20 times the size of a football field" allegedly
seen from the ground on the same day.
East Anglia UFOs (October 1996)
Lights in the sky were seen and filmed by police patrols in Boston and Skegness,
Lincolnshire. They alerted the coastguard and the RAF that a "blip" was detected on an
air traffic control radar covering the area. After the incident was reported in the media,
the late Martin Redmond, MP for Don Valley, wrote to MoD asking why RAF aircraft had
not been scrambled to investigate and made "serious allegations" about the
effectiveness of the air defence system. MoD launched a thorough investigation of the
incident that concluded the lights seen were the planet Venus and the "blip" on radar
was explained as a "permanent echo" caused by a tall church spire on the Lincolnshire
Wolds. Papers on this controversy can be found in DEFE 24/2004 (p7-10, p184-88) and
DEFE 24/1991 (p109).

Western Isles incident (October 1996)

Following reports of a loud explosion in the sky over the Atlantic Ocean in the Outer
Hebrides, HM Coastguard launched a major air-sea rescue operation. No trace of any
wreckage was found and no aircraft reported missing. A statement on the incident is at
DEFE 24/1991(p156) and a response to a Parliamentary Question from Western Isles
MP Callum McDonald is at DEFE 24/2004 (p309-10).

Peak District incident (March 1997)

Reports of mysterious sonic booms and an aircraft crashing into the Peak District hills,
on the border between South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, triggered a search of moorland
by the police, RAF and mountain rescue teams. No wreckage was found and no aircraft
reported missing. An RAF police investigation concluded space debris or meteorites
may have been responsible. These papers can be found in DEFE 24/1993 (p83-4) and
DEFE 24/2013 (p40-42, p261-64).

RAE Boscombe Down incident (26 September 1994)

In 1997 several UFOlogists claimed that a highly classified US Black Project aircraft
(code-named Aurora) had crash-landed at this airfield. MoD papers show there was no
truth in the rumour and these papers can be found at DEFE 24/1998 (p168-171).

Michael Howard UFO (March 1997)

Sightings of a black triangular UFO over the home of the shadow Home Secretary in
Folkestone, Kent reached the media in 1998. The Home Office told MoD they had no
record of any "security incident" at Mr Howard's home during the week in question. See
DEFE 24/1926 (p13, p18, p74-75) and DEFE 24/2013 (p10).

"Foo-fighter" story (Second World War)

A letter claiming Winston Churchill ordered a 50 year cover-up of a wartime encounter
between a UFO and a RAF bomber over the English coastline in the later stages of The
Second World War was investigated by MoD in 1999. No written record of the incident
was found; papers can be found at DEFE 24/2013 (p205-209, p273-77)

RAF Rudloe Manor, Wiltshire - Britain's 'Area 51'

UFOlogists believe this RAF facility was the equivalent of the US "Area 51” in Nevada
where some believe wreckage from the Roswell UFO was taken and Black Project
aircraft developed. In a 1996 letter to a UFOlogist, MoD admitted Rudloe – the head
quarters of the RAF Police's Flying Complaints Flight (FCF) - had acted until 1992 as
the co-ordination point for reports of UFOs received from RAF bases. But it said no
research was carried out there and reports were simply forwarded to the MoD's office
(known as Sec(AS)2) at Whitehall that was the focal point for UFO reports - DEFE
24/1978 (p146-47, p168-69, p222-23); DEFE 24/1982 (p311-15); DEFE 24/1993 (p11-
15). In 1997 reports were made to MoD that individuals who were convinced MoD were
hiding UFO secrets at Rudloe had attempted to break into the base: DEFE 24/1995
(p249-51). MoD responds to a Parliamentary question from Martin Redmond MP on
Rudloe Manor at DEFE 24/2004 (p271-71).

DA-Notices and UFOs

Denial of a claim, attributed to a BBC source and circulated by UFOlogists, that MoD
had imposed a Defence Advisory-Notice restricting media reporting of "black triangle"
UFOs/experimental aircraft. Papers can be found in DEFE 24/1991 (p15), DEFE
24/1992 (p136, p289-90), DEFE 24/1993 (p188-90) and DEFE 24/2013 (p73-74, p100-
101).

Reports of UFO activities according to regions (blue text):

Note: These regional bookmarks are a rough guide only and may not include all of the reports
related to the region featured in this release.

Anglesey and North Wales

DEFE 24/2013 (p155)
DEFE 24/1983 (p4, p7, p27-28)
DEFE 24/2004 (p159-160, p297-30)

Australia
DEFE 24/1983 (p123-71)

Bedfordshire
DEFE 24/1978 (p202-3)

Bristol area
DEFE 24/1982 (p144, p287-300)

Canada
DEFE 24/1973 (p80)

Cheshire
DEFE 24/2042 (p10-19, p151-52, p157-77, p182-83)

Cleveland
DEFE 24/1973 (p66)

Cornwall
DEFE 24/1978 (p179-80, p264-68)

Derbyshire
DEFE 24/1982 (p190-201)
DEFE 24/1993 (p83-84, p184-85)
DEFE 24/1995 (p278-79)
DEFE 24/2013 (p40-41, p242-243, p261-64)
DEFE 24/2014 (p235-41)

Devon
DEFE 24/1982 (p229-35)

Co. Durham
DEFE 24/1973 (p129-33)

East Yorkshire
DEFE 24/1993 (p95-114)
DEFE 24/1983 (p219)
DEFE 24/2045 (p5-6, 13-16, 22-41)

Gloucestershire
DEFE 24/1983 (p96-102)

Hampshire
DEFE 24/1978 (p19-20)

Ireland
DEFE 24/2013 (p129-30)

Kent
DEFE 24/1926 (p13, p18, p74-75)
DEFE 24/2013 (p10-11)

Lancashire
DEFE 24/1973 (p220)
DEFE 24/1978 (p300)
DEFE 24/1992 (p151)
DEFE 24/2004 (p98, p302)

Leicestershire
DEFE 24/1973 (p203)
DEFE 24/2013 (p205-9, p273-77)

Lincolnshire
DEFE 24/1973 (p137, p145)
DEFE 24/1991 (p109)
DEFE 24/1993 (p85)
DEFE 24/2004 (p7-8, p9-10, p173-74, p184-87, p198-99)

London
DEFE 24/1995 (p25-26)
DEFE 24/2013 (p167-72)

Manchester
DEFE 24/1991 (p264)
DEFE 24/2013 (p12)
DEFE 24/2042 (p190-94)
Merseyside
DEFE 24/1973 (p50)

Norfolk
DEFE 24/1991 (p219)
DEFE 24/1993 (p306-312)
DEFE 24/2004 (p7-8, p9-10, p173-74, p184-87, p198-99)

North Yorkshire
DEFE 24/2001 (p35-36)
DEFE 24/1978 (p15, p217-18)
DEFE 24/1982 (p265-66)
DEFE 24/1926 (p180-183)
DEFE 24/1998 (p67, p137, p224)
DEFE 24/2012 (p197)

North and Mid-Wales

DEFE 24/1982 (p257)
DEFE 24/2004 (p71-72, p78, p86-94)
DEFE 24/204 (p17-20, p58-78)
DEFE 24/2015 (p27-28, p30-33)
(see also entry for Anglesey and bookmarks for Berwyn Mountains incident)

Northampton
DEFE 24/2015 (p13)

Nottinghamshire
DEFE 24/1991 (p20-25)

Oxfordshire
DEFE 24/2012 (p227-29)

Scotland
DEFE 24/1978 (p230-31, p249-54)
DEFE 24/1982 (p8-9, p12, p167, p204-5)
DEFE 24/1992 (p191)
DEFE 24/1993 (p117-19)
DEFE 24/1926 (p141, p273-79)
DEFE 24/2014 (p28-46)
DEFE 24/1983 (p68-69, p73)
DEFE 24/2004 (p154-155, p165-72)

Shropshire
DEFE 24/1983 (p56-60, p67, p71)

South Yorkshire
DEFE 24/1973 (p284)
DEFE 24/1978 (p304)
DEFE 24/1993 (p83-84)
DEFE 24/2013 (p40-41, p261-64)
DEFE 24/2014 (p235-41)
Staffordshire
DEFE 24/1993 (p171)
DEFE 24/2013 (p157-58)
DEFE 24/1983 (p56-60, p67, p71)

South Wales
DEFE 24/1978 (p80-96)
DEFE 24/1991 (p46-53)
DEFE 24/1993 (p303-5)
DEFE 24/1998 (245)

Suffolk
DEFE 24/1993 (p49-51)
DEFE 24/1995 (p74-86)
DEFE 241983 (p253-54, p264, p271)
DEFE 24/1998 (p92-3)
(see also bookmarks on Rendlesham Forest/RAF Woodbridge UFO incident)

Surrey
DEFE 24/1992 (p81-83)
DEFE 24/1926 (p168)

West Yorkshire
DEFE 24/1991 (p227-31)
DEFE 24/1992 (p207-8)
DEFE 24/2012 (p72-77)

Western Isles
DEFE 24/1991 (p154-56)
DEFE 24/2004 (p309-10)

Wiltshire
DEFE 24/1992 (p153)
DEFE 24/1998 (p169-71)
DEFE 24/2004 (p267, p269, p275)